October 30, 2020 Thai Enquirer Summary Political News In one of the most strange statements made in years, former prime minister Anand Panyarachun, came out to urge embattled Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to reconsider his stance and protesters’ demand for him to resign. The ex-premier, who was put in his position after the 1992 massacre of student lead protest against then dictator/Prime Minister Suchinda Kraprayoon, also voiced his support for charter amendments that takes into account of public participation and the scrapping of the Senate’s powers to vote for prime minister. During a seminar titled “From analogue to digital era how to reduce communication gap in a sincere and graceful manner”, the ex-prime minister said unlike the past, new-generation activists with the use of digital platforms and digital technologies to drive their anti-government protests while Gen Prayut still speaks in an “analogue” mode. Anand pointed that the key problem between Gen Prayut and the youths lies in differences in perceptive communication between generations. However, he said the degree of severity of youth-led demonstrations cannot be compared with the past of October 14, 1973 or October 6, 1976. He also pointed that political problems could be dated back 7 years ago when the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)-sponsored constitution was drafted without taking into account people’s opinions. Anand advised involved parties to look into problems in the current charter, especially the problematic clause that gave the 250 appointed senators’ power to select the country’s prime minister. Anand said this clause needs to be abolished. He perceived that this particular clause is the key issue that caused new-generation to stage anti- government demonstrations. As for protesters’ demand for Gen Prayut to resign, Anand urged Gen Prayut to listen to the youngsters who perceived him as the cause of the ongoing conflict but said whether Gen Prayut himself owns the right to decide on students’ demand for him to step down. Anti-establishment activists yesterday announced to ramp up protests in Khon Kaen if Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha refused to step down. At Khon Kaen University, pro-democracy activist Jatupat “Pai Dao Din” Boonpattarasaksa, lead of the Dao Din group, told students to be prepared to take to the street. He warned that protesters will be ready to spill onto Mitraphab Road if Gen Prayut refused to resign. Jatupat said he planned to adopt the Ratchaprasong model in which protesters sealed off Ratchaprasong intersection. Meanwhile, former graduates of Thammasat University belonging to different groups of alumni invited all former Thammasat graduates to meet in front of the main auditorium of Thammasat University from 15.00 hrs on October 30-31 to view His Majesty the King’s audience during his visit to the university. The invitation contrasts to the “Graduates of the People” group which announced a “Big Surprise” campaign on the same day as Thammasat University’s graduation day tomorrow. Facebook page of the Network of People defending the Monarchy invited the public to keep a close watch on the anti-monarchy movement’s offensive actions at Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan Campus from October 30-31. Meanwhile anti-government rallies were held at 3 locations in Bangkok yesterday including a street fashion show that expressed sarcasm and satire on a member of the royal institution. A red carpet was unrolled on the street to serve as a fashion runway for men and women to vamp in front of an amused crowd, making fun of the family’s gestures and appearance. The 1st group of protesters rallied on the Pathumwan Intersection Skywalk, some protesters mocked the government’s alleged harassment of the media by sitting on chairs placed along the skywalk with their mouths shut and their hands behind their backs in a symbolic demonstration of the alleged harassment. Other activities were also held to showcase alleged state violence to mark the 13th day since the forceful dispersal of protesters at Pathumwan intersection by the police who deployed water cannons to spray water laced with chemical irritants at the protesters. The 2nd group was at Wat Khaek, the Hindu temple on Silom Road, protesters placed paintings on the road portraying the struggle for democracy. This venue was also the venue for the fashion show walkway on the street. A 3rd group of protesters rallied on the outbound lane of the Bang Na-Trat highway, opposite The Nation Media Company’s premises, to protest against, what they allege is, biased reportage of their protests. Meanwhile, there are reports that Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan has instructed Minister of Digital Economy and Society (DES) Buddhipongse Punnakanta and the ministry’s top officials to speed up law suits against social media platforms that stir up conflict and generate fake news. Gen Prawit is said to ask the Royal Thai Police Office and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to pursue 1-2 cases against overseas online platforms that violated the Computer Crimes Act in order to set a precedent for others and show that Thai laws are effective. On a separate issue, Gen Prawit Wongsuwon yesterday rejected a call by Sondhi Limthongkul, former co-leader of the defunct People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), for a coup to pave the way for the establishment of a national unity government to defuse the political conflict. On the superstitious side, Chonthus Ruethaipong, President of Astrology Association of Thailand, came out to warn Gen Prayut not to be complacent as the political situation will spiral out of control, causing divisiveness to widen, sending the country to reach a breaking point. He told Gen Prayut to be wary of casualties and opportunists while he must be prepared to fight several battles inside and outside the country that may cause him to lose his prime ministerial seat. The famed fortune-teller said Gen Prayut is set to face a rough path in the final quarter of this year, posing a challenging time for his administration. There will be severe problems that required immediate fixing. Chonthus advised Gen Prayut to try to sustain his ill-plight for the remainder of this year and adjust his attitude to lead the country back to normality in 2021. Chonthus also predicted that hardships facing Thais would worsening next year. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Progressive Movement, and 4 others from his movement and the Move Forward Party, were yesterday released without bail shortly after being indicted on charges relating to a flash protest rally in central Bangkok in December last year. Those sent for trial are Mr Thanathorn; Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary- general of the group; Pannika Wanich, the group's spokeswoman; Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat; and Pairattachote Chantarakajon, a former election candidate for Mr Thanathorn's disbanded Future Forward Party. All were present in court to hear the indictment related to their rally on the elevated BTS walkway at the Pathumwan intersection on December 14, 2019. Meanwhile Germany has come out to say that HM the King Maha Vajiralongkorn has not breached any of the rules in the country, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, HM the King has made frequent public appearances in recent days. Images of King Maha Vajiralongkorn have been shared on social media following his conversations with local people in Ubon Ratchathani who sought his audience when attending the royal kathin (monk’s robe-giving) ceremony in Wat Nong Pah Pong in Warin Chamrap district. A video clip of HM the King having a chat with locals who showed their support for the King was posted the video clip on social media. Locals were heard saying, “King Fight Fight!” and the King replied, “We will walk together with love and close ties for the nation”. Economic News Today the decision is set to be made for the reduction in the number of days for quarantine in Thailand, a move that could help raise the tourism sector which has been reeling from the impact of the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19). The National Communicable Diseases Committee (NCDC) has agreed, in principle, to reduce the 14-day mandatory quarantine period, for people arriving from abroad and people suspected of carrying coronavirus, to 10 days. It also agreed to tighten up safety measures at quarantine facilities and increase tracing of those who complete their quarantine period. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who chaired the meeting of the committee , said that their decision to reduce the mandatory quarantine period will be submitted to the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) for consideration. He noted that Thailand has the capacity, including medicines, laboratories, medical personnel and other resources, to contain the spread of COVID-19. More importantly, there is not a single severe case currently in hospital and the country has a coronavirus fatality rate of less than 2%, with most of the new cases being imported. He said that the committee agreed to the 4-day reduction in the quarantine period and, instead, placed emphasis on safety at quarantine facilities and the tracing of people who were quarantined. The Ministry of Finance yesterday revised up its economic growth forecast for this year to a contraction of 7.7 per cent instead of the previous 8.5 per cent, citing signs of improvement in economic indicators for September released by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO). The economy is recovering in the second half of the year as Thailand’s major trading partners start to rebound from the COVID-19 crisis, while government spending shores up the local economy, said FPO advisor Pornchai Theeravej.